Grace Lutheran Church, Preschool, and Academy sits on Banyan Boulevard in Naples, Florida, where a stucco sanctuary with curved angel-topped reredos and a custom-built pipe organ has anchored a Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod congregation since the late 1950s. The church describes itself as the family of God, rooted in Jesus Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit by Word and Sacrament, and that family-church identity shows up everywhere from the Sunday pews to the preschool classrooms next door. Grace has been on Banyan Boulevard since 1956, was formally organized in 1955, and today reaches well beyond its walls through a preschool, a K-5 academy, choirs for every age, a grief support ministry, and a women's mission society that sends funds to LCMS missionaries.
The Divine Service at Grace
Worship at Grace follows the historic liturgy of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod as found in the Lutheran Service Book. The pastors call this gathering the Divine Service because, in their words, "God is present to serve you with His gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation through hymns, the historic liturgy of the church, Law and Gospel preaching and the Sacraments (Baptism and the Lord's Supper)." The order flows from God to the people and back: confession and absolution, the liturgy of the Word, Holy Communion, and a sending blessing. Hymnals are provided in the pews along with a detailed printed bulletin.
On Sunday morning, the 8:00 AM service is the early Divine Worship with Holy Communion and is livestreamed on YouTube for those watching from home. A fellowship hour follows at 9:00 AM, then Sunday School and adult Bible Study at 9:15 AM. The 10:30 AM Divine Worship with Holy Communion fills the sanctuary a second time. Both Sunday services include a children's sermon for younger worshipers, and the congregation also keeps clip-board activities and a "cry room" available for restless little ones. Wednesday evenings add a 6:30 PM Evening Prayer during the school year, and a 4:00 PM Saturday service is also part of the regular schedule.
What to Wear and What to Bring
Grace does not enforce a dress code, but most members follow a business casual or country club style with a thoughtful but relaxed formality, the kind of attire one might wear to a social event at a local golf resort. Food and drink are not allowed in the sanctuary, but everyone is invited to stay for fellowship hour with baked goods, fruit, and coffee. The church recommends arriving ten to fifteen minutes early during Christian holidays, when the sanctuary, and occasionally the parking lot, fills up.
Sacred Music and the Pipe Organ
Music is one of the defining features of Grace Lutheran. The Director of Parish Music, Jonathan Birner, has served Grace for over twenty years and oversees a program that includes organ, piano, brass, timpani, bells, chimes, choirs, chant, and full congregational singing. The sanctuary's pipe organ was built by Timothy Fink and Company of New York and installed as part of the major 2004 renovation; its 1,860 pipes sit in a case whose central tower echoes the coral rock wall of the chancel and whose side towers step forward to match the curved reredos with angels.
The music ministry offers ensembles for every stage of life:
- Grace Chorale, for high school students and adults, rehearses Wednesday evenings from 7:00 to 8:30 PM and supports congregational singing every Sunday except the Sundays when the children sing.
- Choristers, for children entering second through eighth grade, rehearses Wednesday afternoons from 4:15 to 5:30 PM, plays choir-chimes, and sings in worship about once a month.
- Grace AMR Ringers, the handbell choir named in memory of Aimee Marie Reinker, is open to students (generally middle school and older) and adults and rehearses Thursday evenings at 6:00 PM.
- Grace Brass Choir, open to students and adults, accompanies the liturgy and hymns and adds brass to concertato hymn arrangements, with rehearsal times set as needed.
Pastoral Leadership
Grace has been served by Pastor Keith Lingsch since March 15, 2009. A former United States Air Force chaplain who retired with twenty-two years of military service, Pastor Lingsch studied at Concordia College Bronxville and Concordia Seminary Fort Wayne before his ordination in 1996 and his call to Naples. He and his wife Lori have three children.
The Rev. Dr. Arthur A. Just Jr. serves Grace seasonally. A professor at Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne since 1984, he celebrated eucharist, preached, taught, and visited the sick and homebound at Grace between recent roles with LCMS International Mission in the Dominican Republic. Vicar Nathan Kieser, in his third year of training at Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne, assists the pastoral team alongside his wife Cosette and their three young sons.
Deaconess Elizabeth Jentz, a 2025 graduate of Concordia Theological Seminary, joined Grace for deaconess counseling, hospital and homebound visits, hospitality, Bible studies, and teaching on Lutheran topics from baptism to end-of-life care. Deaconess Linda Nobili serves seasonally as Director of Human Care, leading GriefShare, visiting shut-ins, and offering one-on-one spiritual counseling for women.
The Director of Christian Education, Kami Jo Mogelvang, oversees the children's and youth ministries, and Jonathan Birner directs parish music. Julie Crews leads the preschool as director and VPK instructor.
Children, Youth, and Christian Education
Christian Education at Grace covers the entire lifespan. Sunday School meets at 9:15 AM with classes for every age from birth through adult. Kids Club is a mid-week Sunday school that meets Wednesday afternoons, with the three- to six-year-olds from 3:45 to 4:15 PM and the seven- to twelve-year-olds from 4:15 to 5:00 PM, both led by the DCE. The youth ministry gathers students in grades six through twelve, with a youth night the first Sunday of each month from 5:00 to 7:00 PM, plus weekend events, district gatherings, and mission trips. Seventh- and eighth-graders take a two-year confirmation class on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 to 7:30 PM with the Pastor and the DCE.
For adults, the Women's Bible Study meets Thursday mornings at 10:00 AM in the Fellowship Hall, and an Adult Bible Study is offered in season (November through Easter) led by the pastoral team. Young Adults, generally in their twenties through forties, meets quarterly for everything from volleyball and beach picnics to paintball, and the Sunday School program for adults rounds out the week.
Grace Lutheran Preschool and Academy
The preschool opened in 1994 as a mission of the congregation to provide quality early childhood education to families in Collier County. Today it serves children ages two through five with two-year-old and three-year-old classes and a VPK program for fours, all using The Creative Curriculum and FunnyDaffer Curriculum. Director and VPK teacher Julie Crews, a Naples native, has been teaching at Grace for twenty-nine years and has three children and four grandsons who attended the program. Her sister Cailey Crews teaches the two- and three-year-old class, and Sissy Hanrahan serves as assistant teacher in both classrooms.
Daily Jesus Time lessons, weekly Chapel on Wednesday mornings led by Pastor Lingsch, and a Tuesday morning music class led by Cantor Birner weave Christian teaching into the school day. The screened-in playground includes a year-round habitat where students watch the Monarch butterfly life cycle, plus artificial turf, a trike track, and sun-screening kites. Tuition is paid in ten equal monthly installments, and wrap-around care is available until 2:30 PM. The academy extension, Grace Lutheran Academy K-5, carries the Christian education tradition forward for elementary students.
Women of Grace and Quilts for Missions
The Women of Grace function as a chapter of Lutheran Women in Mission (LWML), part of a national organization that has supported missionaries around the world for over seventy-seven years. Their fundraisers, including an annual Rummage Sale and Bake Sale the Sunday before Thanksgiving, support missionary work and the training of pastors and deaconesses at the LCMS seminaries. The Quilters and Knitters meet Tuesday mornings in the Fellowship Hall to prepare quilts that are given to the Pelican, a local mission church, and to other local charities in need. On the first Saturday in December the women host a Christmas Luncheon and Tea, where some of those quilts are auctioned, and Ladies Alive brings women of all ages together for fellowship and outreach throughout the year.
Human Care, GriefShare, and Thanksgiving Baskets
Human Care at Grace is built around the people who need it. Pastor Lingsch and the seasonal pastor visit the sick and shut-ins at least once a month and bring the Lord's Supper; Deaconess Linda visits homebound members as well and is available for one-on-one spiritual counseling and grief support for women. Each January through mid-April, Grace hosts a thirteen-week session of GriefShare for anyone who has experienced loss.
The congregation also feeds the wider community. Every year Grace members pack more than two hundred Thanksgiving food baskets for neighbors in need, and the Human Care Initiative invites members to share their talents, from transportation to doctor's visits and yard work to small home repairs, with fellow Grace members at no cost. Grace Lutheran Elders host an annual St. Patrick's Day Fish Fry in the Fellowship Hall, with a free-will offering that supports the youth trip to the LCMS National Youth Gathering.
Seven Promises for the Family of God
To carry out its mission, the family at Grace has written down seven promises that members make to each other and to anyone who walks through the doors. They promise to nourish God's family with Divine Worship, Word, and Sacraments; to witness faithfully and grow God's family through evangelism; to provide human care for members, friends, and neighbors; to grow continually through Scripture and Christian education at every age; to be a family in prayer for and with each other; to provide opportunity for everyone across a lifespan to participate; and to equip and encourage every member to use their personal gifts of time, talent, and treasure for the good of their neighbor.
Becoming a Member of Grace
Anyone is welcome to visit as many times as they wish before beginning the path to membership. The congregation offers four routes: transfer of membership from another LCMS congregation, affirmation of faith for those already confirmed in the Lutheran Church, a six-session Adult Confirmation/Information Class (offered in fall, spring, and summer), and a two-year intensive Youth Confirmation for students starting in seventh grade that meets on Wednesdays during the school year.
A Naples Congregation Since 1952
The first Lutheran worship services in Naples were held in 1952 at the Naples Woman's Club, led by the Rev. Eugene F. Helms, then pastor of St. Michael Lutheran Church in Fort Myers. Grace Lutheran Church of Naples was officially organized on May 29, 1955. The Rev. G. H. Hentschel was commissioned in 1956 as missionary-at-large for the FL-GA District of the Missouri Synod and assigned to Grace; that same year worship moved to a store-front at 485 Fifth Avenue South and the congregation purchased the Banyan Boulevard property that is still its home.
The first building went up in 1959 under Pastor James L. Dishop: a multi-purpose structure with a chancel on one end, a single-wall kitchen on the other, and a low-pitched roof. Pastor George W. Price's tenure brought a 1968 south-end addition with classrooms, fellowship space, and a full kitchen. In 1975, under Pastor Donald C. Ziegler, the worship portion was demolished and rebuilt northward with laminated arches and a high-pitched roof. The 1992 building project during Pastor Douglas E. Meyer's service enlarged the narthex, added offices and classrooms, and created the separate Fellowship Hall. The 1994 preschool opened, and in 2004, during the pastorate of the Rev. Peter R. Reetz, the worship space and narthex were completely renovated and the Timothy Fink pipe organ was installed. On November 13, 2005, the congregation marked fifty years with a new cornerstone that contains items from the original 1959 cornerstone, the 1980 time capsule, and pieces prepared for the anniversary.
What Grace Believes
The teaching of Martin Luther and the reformers is summarized at Grace in three phrases: Grace alone, Faith alone, Scripture alone. As a member congregation of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Grace confesses a Bible-based, mission-oriented, confessional Christianity, holding that the LCMS "is vigorously to make known the love of Christ by word and deed within our churches, communities, and the world." The church's vision is to live in the grace, mercy, peace, and forgiveness of Jesus Christ as members of His family, here in time and there in eternity.
Plan a Visit
The church office at 860 Banyan Boulevard answers at (239) 261-7421, and the preschool office can be reached at (239) 261-7700, extension 6. Sunday worship is at 8:00 and 10:30 AM, with Sunday School and Bible Study between them at 9:15 AM; Wednesday Evening Prayer meets at 6:30 PM during the school year, and a Saturday worship is offered at 4:00 PM. Live and on-demand services are broadcast on YouTube at Grace on YouTube, and online giving is available through the giving page. The Pelican, the mission church Grace supports through quilts and prayer, is part of the same Naples network of mercy.